Edgar Allan Poe favored the short story ... and we love them too. "The ordinary novel is objectionable, from its length," Poe declared. "As it cannot be read at one sitting, it deprives itself, of course, of the immense force derivable from totality." Here we have collected 10 of our favorite short stories by AAeB authors - brief a touch saucy, offering insights into the human heart, always well told. Editorial director Hollis George calls this anthology," An entertaining blend of storytelling selected by short story aficionado Edward Squires."

While serving as a husky young MP in Europe, noted sci-fi author Bill Burkett kept a diary of his misadventures, encounters, romances, and sightseeing. Later, he turned these scribblings into what he calls Brautigans, so named after a writer named Richard Brautigan whose short story style he admired. Many of these stories never made it into collections of Burkett's work, so he refers to them as "orphans," unclaimed writing that have been pulled together under the general theme of soldiering. But in addition to stories of Burkett's military days you will also be treated to adventures in the...